My administration approached me and asked if I would facilitate the use of the Accelerated Math program into the intermediate grade levels (3-4-5). At this time, I was the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade math teacher. I had no prior experience with Accelerated Math. I began online professional development, attending ten one-hour workshops to prepare for the usage of the program. I worked closely with the third grade teachers to assist in the ongoing implementation of the program. I continued my professional development by attending a full-day workshop the following summer. This workshop allowed me to apply my previous experience with the program and view a variety of useful integration strategies.
As the facilitator, my responsibility was not only to learn and use the program in my classroom to support student learning. Over the past three years, I was in charge of training and providing tech support to four of my colleagues. This year I planned and held a full-day professional development for two new teachers. I was also the site administrator. I added the students and organized the courses including the assignment of teachers and students to each class. Each year, I set-up the closure of courses in preparation for the following year's usage.
New programs are shared with our parents during an annual All-School Meeting. The first two years of implementation I was asked to prepare a brief demonstration. I organized a station to share the many educational benefits of the program.
The Accelerated Math program contained an assessment tool called Star Math Three times a year, each student was given a short online assessment. This tool assessed student knowledge in math skills and helped identify gaps. The results from each assessment helped teachers adjust student goals accordingly in the Accelerated Math program and in additional daily math lessons. I was in charge of administering this test to all grade levels, three times a year.
Attached is a letter I shared with parents at the start of each school year:
REFLECTION
This experience was extremely challenging for me. This was my first experience with any type of online learning systems. I learned there is a ton of preparation in organizing online courses. Any time I encountered a problem with the system or scanning software, I had to troubleshoot myself, look through the resources presented in my online training, or contact tech support provided by Renaissance Learning.
Many times the problems I encountered were similar problems my colleagues encountered. I served as their tech support. This was difficult, because my tech support was often needed while I was in the middle of teaching my own class. The first year I attempted to teach one of my colleagues the steps of site administration. My hope was that the following year she could set-up the third grade students and classes. She found the entire concept of a hosted website challenging. I determined it was best to organize the site each year for the teachers.
The teaching implementation of the program was also a new challenge. I had to determine a schedule of usage and methods of instruction that would continue to support the school's math curriculum. I had to establish a routine when working in the program otherwise chaos would occur. Teaching the routine for the first few weeks of usage was extremely important. Although the program was meant to be independent, mini-lessons were important for student success. Errors in work and when bubbling scan cards led to lengthy corrections and the need to conference with me.
This year the administration has decided to use a supporting math program that is accessible online. The teachers were not part of the decision-making in using the Accelerated Math program. This led to many issues in the actual program not being the best fit with our math program. Fortunately, the administration learned from this and included the teachers in the investigation of a new program.
As the facilitator, my responsibility was not only to learn and use the program in my classroom to support student learning. Over the past three years, I was in charge of training and providing tech support to four of my colleagues. This year I planned and held a full-day professional development for two new teachers. I was also the site administrator. I added the students and organized the courses including the assignment of teachers and students to each class. Each year, I set-up the closure of courses in preparation for the following year's usage.
New programs are shared with our parents during an annual All-School Meeting. The first two years of implementation I was asked to prepare a brief demonstration. I organized a station to share the many educational benefits of the program.
The Accelerated Math program contained an assessment tool called Star Math Three times a year, each student was given a short online assessment. This tool assessed student knowledge in math skills and helped identify gaps. The results from each assessment helped teachers adjust student goals accordingly in the Accelerated Math program and in additional daily math lessons. I was in charge of administering this test to all grade levels, three times a year.
Attached is a letter I shared with parents at the start of each school year:
REFLECTION
This experience was extremely challenging for me. This was my first experience with any type of online learning systems. I learned there is a ton of preparation in organizing online courses. Any time I encountered a problem with the system or scanning software, I had to troubleshoot myself, look through the resources presented in my online training, or contact tech support provided by Renaissance Learning.
Many times the problems I encountered were similar problems my colleagues encountered. I served as their tech support. This was difficult, because my tech support was often needed while I was in the middle of teaching my own class. The first year I attempted to teach one of my colleagues the steps of site administration. My hope was that the following year she could set-up the third grade students and classes. She found the entire concept of a hosted website challenging. I determined it was best to organize the site each year for the teachers.
The teaching implementation of the program was also a new challenge. I had to determine a schedule of usage and methods of instruction that would continue to support the school's math curriculum. I had to establish a routine when working in the program otherwise chaos would occur. Teaching the routine for the first few weeks of usage was extremely important. Although the program was meant to be independent, mini-lessons were important for student success. Errors in work and when bubbling scan cards led to lengthy corrections and the need to conference with me.
This year the administration has decided to use a supporting math program that is accessible online. The teachers were not part of the decision-making in using the Accelerated Math program. This led to many issues in the actual program not being the best fit with our math program. Fortunately, the administration learned from this and included the teachers in the investigation of a new program.